Electric switch



June 9, 1925.

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. circuit is broken.

Patented June 9, 1925.

tennis UNITED STATES PATENT oFF I -g WILLIAM W. WEEKSLOF BROOKLYN, NEWYORK, AssIGNon "ro LEVATOR surrtrns,

COMPANY, me, A oonronirrronor NEW JERSEY.:

' ELECTRIC swrrcn.

Application filed May 2 5,

To all whom it may GOILOQWH. Be it known that 1, WILLIAM WALLACE WEEKS,a citizen of the United States, resid ing at 366 4th St, Brooklyn, NewYork, have invented a certain new and useful Improveinent in ElectricSwitches, of which the following is a clear, full, and exactdescription. e

This invention relates to an electric switch, and more particularly" toan improved switch for opening andclosing the controller circuit of anelevator with the opening and closing of the elevator; door.

in the operation of elevators, is essential that a switch be employedfor breaking the electrical operating circuit when the ele-. rator dooris open, so as to render it impossible to start the elevator, byaccident or otherwise, while the elevator door is open. Various forms ofswitches have been employed for this purpose, but the switchesheretofore used have been unsatisfactory for the reason that withcontinual use the switches become worn and produce bad contactsresulting in sparking, Such sparking, or arcing across the points ofcontact, frequently burns oil the points, of contact on the contactingmembers so that rapid deterioration of the switch takes place and a verypoor and inefficient operation of the elevator results. i

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an'improvedswitch in which the objectionable features above noted are overcome. Y

A second object of the invention is'to provide a switch of a form inwhich 'wear will be diminished so as to attain a considerably longerlife of the switch.

Another object of theinvention is topro-' vide means whereby the switchwhen operated shall maintain substantially perfect contact while currentis passing through the switch, and which shall maintain substantiallyperfect insulation when the electrical Another object of the inventionis to provide a switch particularly adapted for elevator operation inwhich the'circuit breaking means operatessubstantially instantaneouslyto force the contacting or conducting 'means apart instead of rollingaway from. the points of contact as inthe form of switch "generally,employed for this purose., P Another object of the invention is to pro192s. Seria1 No.641,3 10."

vide a switch of a form which,if through accident or intention it iscalled upon to make and break contact in a circuit, will operatesatisfactorily for this purposeand stand such extra duty. 1

With these and other objects in View, the invention comprises variousieatures. heres inafter described and particularly defined in theclaims.

The invention. may be best understoodby describing it in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which-- a g Fig. l is aview in elevationof the switch with thepfront cover. plate removed; Fig. 2-is-ahorizontal section, of the switch taken on the line 22.of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the device on theline 3-3 ot Fig. 1,showing the switch operating lever attached to the cam pivot. 1 g

' Thepreferred form of the invention comprises a casing; 10 having abase 12in which are openings 14 and .16 through which the leads from acircuit are adapted to pass to connect with terminals 18, 20, of theusual :Eorm..i The terminals 18, 20 are suitably con nected by meansotconducting wires 22, 24

to conductingbars 26, 28 preferably of brass] or copper, which arepivotally supported on pivot-s 25,27 within the casing,as shown 1n Fig.1 of the drawings. At their points of support, the bars are separated bymeans of. insulating material which extends downwardly therefrom inorder to prevent short circuiting across the bars. At their lower.

ends the bars" 26, 28 are extended outwardly and positioned between thelower ends thereof is a cancer movable member 30, having conducting andinsulating portions thereon by means of which the circuit, through the 1site each other in corresponding depresssions I on the surface of thecam or movable member 30.- Adjacentythe ends of the segments 32, 34, areinsulating portions 40, {i2 which are preferably integral with thebodyof the cam or movable member andwhich project outwardly formingraised or nosed portions on diametrically opposite faces of the movablememberl The movable member is substantiallyelliptical in form, thedistance between t e segme ts 32, 3 ei g the minor x thereof, and thedistance b'etw'een'the enter 7 portions of the insulatin'gs'ections 40,42 comprisingthe major axis vof the ellipse. Between the end portionsot' the segments 32, 34: and the insulating sections 40, 42, are airgaps 434', 4:6,4'8and 50 by means of which increased insulation isattained between the conducting segments and the insulating portions ofthe movablemember. In order to keep the bars 26, 28 continually incontact withthe surfaces of the movable member 30, provide springs 52,54 which'iare preferably helical in formand supported by means oflugs56, 58 attached to the bars'26, 28 respectively. The outer ends ofthezhelical' springs are supported upon the surface of insulatingmembers 60, (32 which are shown in eross'section in Fig. 2 of thedrawings. The movable member -80' is suitably supported upon a bar orpivotfi to which it is attached by any suitable means, such, forexample,'as a pin passing through a slot'in the movable member and thepivot. The

pivot 64 is attached to a lever 66 which is connected to an operating:mechanism by which the switch is operated. When the lever is attached tothe toggle levers of an elevator doorffor example, the switch will beoperated with movements of the door. The switch may be'so connected asto break the elevator operating circuit when the elevator door is openeda predetermined amount, thus rendering operation of the elevator bymeans of the control lever impossible while the door is open beyond thatpredetermined-amount. The operation of the switch in connection with thecontroller circuit of an-elevator is as follows:

When the elevator door is opened by means of the toggle levers, a barconnected to the lever 68pmoves the lever whi'ch in turn rotates the camor movable-member 30 so that the insulating portions 40-, 42 thereofcome into contact with the bars 26,'28,'spreading them outwardlyagainst'the yieldablesprings 56, 58, causing an interruption of thecur,- rent passing through the elevator operating circuit In thisposition otthe rmojgab'le member 30, the elevator cannot be operated bymeans of "the controller lever in the ele vator, and nomovem'ent of theelevator ist'hereiore possible until the circuit isag'a in closedby theop'eration of the movable memher. hen the door is-cl'osed, thevarious'levers are again operated so that the movable member is turned intheposition in which the conducting segments 32,34eare in contact withthe bars 26,- 28. The circuit through the bars is: thus completed,andthe elevatormay'then be operated by means of the controller lever.

By the spreading action of the extended insulating portions of themovable member 30 of the switch, the bars 26, 28 are forced rapidlyoutwardly against the tensfion of the springs '56, '58 and as soon asthe movable inember is turned intoposition for closing the circuitthrough the bars, the bars 26, 28- are suddenly and forcibly throwninwardly against the contacting surfaces by means or" the springs, and asub stantially perfect contact is therefore made between the surfaces ofthe segments and the bars. By this means, sparking at the contactsurfaces of the switch is prevented, which results in an increased lifeof the switch.

It is to be understood that the device which has been describedis notlimited in itsapplication" to elevator operating circuits, but may beemployed in connection with any other mechanism to which it is adapted.It is also to be understood that various n'iodifications and changes maybe made in the device as described without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention. 5

Having thus described the invention, What isblainied as new is: i y

1. An" electridswitch comprising circuit terminals, conducting bars'Iconnected to said terminals, amovable member mountedte: tween saidconducting bars, means formairr taming said bars incontact with said member, circularconducting arcs ind-airman said member whereby said barsremain sta tionary inposition 'when in Contact with said arcs,conducting mean's'in said movable member between said arcs, and non-conducting portions on said movable, member extending outwardly thereonwhereby when said movable member is operated to attain contact betweensaid non-conducting por tions and'said 'bars the latter will be movedoutwardly and, the circuit through said movable member will be broken.

2. An electrical switch comprising pressed conducting bars, lipticalmovable member pivotally positioned between the bars, said movablemember having diametrically opposite conducting members upon the minoraxis of the said elliptical member and diametrically op'po-' siteinsulating port-ions on the major axis of the said elliptical member, and meansspring for operating the movable member to connect the said conductingmembers in series with thesaid conducting bars.

3'; 'An electrical switch comprisinga movable member havingdiametricallyopposite conductingportions thereonand'diametricailyopposite insulating port-ions thereon,

the distance between the insulating portion's being greater than that,.between the conducting portions, conducting bars pivotally placedW1th"respect to the-Jsaid a substantially e1- v movable member so as tospread with the movements of the said movable member when the insulatingportions thereof are in contact with the said bars, and spring meansadapted to maintain the said bars into contacting relation with the saidmovable member. I

4. An electrical switch comprising a movable insulating member havingdiametrically opposite conducting portions thereon in the formsubstantially of circular segments, the said insulating member havingprojecting nosed insulating portions between the said segments,conducting bars pivo ally placed with respect to the said movable memberso as to yield withthe movements of the said movable member, and springmeans adapted to maintain the said'bars in contact with the said movablemember.

5. An electrical switch comprising a movable insulating member havingdiametrically opposite conducting portions thereon in the formofsub'stantially circular segments, the said insulating member havingnosed insulating portions between the said so positioned as to cause thesaid bars tospread rapidly with a speed depending upon the speed ofmovement of the said movable member and the distance of the nosed.portions from the pivoted ends of the said bars.

6.. An electric switch comprising a mov- 1 able member havingdiametrically opposite conducting surfaces and diametrically op, positeinsulating surfaces thereon, the distance between the insulatingsurfaces being greater than that between the conducting surfaces andconducting bars adapted to be held in pressure contact with oppositesurfaces of said member.

Signed at New York city, N. Y. this 24th day of May 1923.-

WILLIAM W. WEEKS.

